Visas and the queue

H-1B

Also called H1B, H-1B visa, H-1B specialty occupation.

H-1B is temporary US work status for a specialty occupation, meaning a job whose minimum requirement for entry is a bachelor's degree or higher in a directly related specific specialty, granted on an employer's petition and limited to six years of total stay under 8 U.S.C. 1184(g)(4).

What it decides

Initial admission runs up to three years and extends to the six year total, and time spent in L status counts against the same six. Two exemptions go beyond it and EB-5 reaches only one. 8 CFR 214.2(h)(13)(iii)(D) allows one year increments once 365 days have passed since a labor certification or any immigrant petition under section 203(b) was filed, which a pending Form I-526E satisfies; the three year increments at (h)(13)(iii)(E) need an approved petition under section 203(b)(1), (2) or (3), which an approved I-526E is not. The annual cap is 65,000 plus 20,000 for holders of a US master's or higher, allocated since 27 February 2026 by a weighted selection rather than a flat lottery. The $100,000 payment a presidential proclamation added on 19 September 2025 is not being collected: a district court vacated the implementing guidance on 8 June 2026 and the First Circuit refused a stay on 24 July 2026. An H-1B worker can never fill one of an investor's ten jobs, because 8 CFR 204.6(e) excludes any nonimmigrant alien from qualifying employee.

Governed by 8 CFR 214.2(h)(4)(ii) for the specialty occupation definition, in the form given it by Modernizing H-1B Requirements, 89 FR 103054, effective 17 January 2025; 8 U.S.C. 1184(g)(4) for the six year limit and 1184(g)(1)(A)(vii) and (g)(5)(C) for the 65,000 and 20,000 numbers; 8 CFR 214.2(h)(13)(iii)(A), (D) and (E) for the limit and the two exemptions. USCIS, H-1B Specialty Occupations, last updated 28 July 2026, is the source for the proclamation payment and its litigation status, in State of California v. Mullin, No. 1:25-cv-13829 (D. Mass.), and it confirms independently that exemption (E) reaches only EB-1, EB-2 and EB-3. The exclusion of nonimmigrants from EB-5 job counting is 8 CFR 204.6(e), which that page does not cover.

Where this is explained properly

Pages here that go into h-1b rather than mentioning it.

Related terms

L-1 intracompany transfereeL-1 is temporary US work status for an employee a multinational moves into a US parent, branch, affiliate or subsidiary, as an executive or manager under L-1A or in a specialized knowledge role under L-1B, after one continuous year of employment abroad with the same group of companies.
F-1 student status and OPTF-1 is the nonimmigrant status of a foreign student at a school certified by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, and optional practical training is the temporary work authorization it can carry: 12 months, renewed only when the student moves up to a higher educational level, plus a 24 month extension for a qualifying STEM degree.
Qualifying employeeA qualifying employee is a US citizen, a lawful permanent resident, or another immigrant lawfully authorized to be employed in the United States, and only their full-time positions count toward an investor's ten. The statute adds United States nationals to that list.
Adjustment of statusAdjustment of status is the process under 8 U.S.C. 1255 by which someone already in the United States becomes a permanent resident without leaving, on Form I-485, instead of collecting an immigrant visa at a consulate abroad. An EB-5 investor who adjusts is granted conditional permanent residence for two years, the same status a consular applicant receives on admission.
EB-2 national interest waiverA national interest waiver is a grant under 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(2)(B)(i) that lets someone who already qualifies for the employment-based second preference self-petition on Form I-140, because USCIS has waived the job offer, and with it the labor certification, on the ground that the person's proposed endeavor serves the national interest.

Checked against primary sources on 10 August 2026. Back to the glossary